Star Wars Battlefront II achieves native 4K resolution on Xbox One X

By Asher Madan
last updated

Over the past few weeks Digital Foundry has conducted many analyses on Xbox One X and PlayStation 4 Pro games. Titles like Wolfenstein 2: The New Colossus manage to hit native 4K resolution on Xbox One X but only 1440p resolution on PlayStation 4 Pro.

This seems to be a recurring trend as certain Xbox One X Enhanced games offer a significant boost over titles also optimized for PlayStation 4 Pro. Digital Foundry's report on Star Wars: Battlefront 2 was one of the most anticipated comparisons of them all. The game is arguably the best looking title on consoles at the moment so Xbox One X owners wanted to know if their new device would offer a great 4K experience. The game's maximum resolution is 1440p on PlayStation 4 Pro so many thought it wouldn't hit native 4K on Microsoft's device.

Many months ago you may remember that we reported that the game would run at 4K 60 FPS on Xbox One X. Today, this was confirmed. Star Wars: Battlefront 2 runs between 2160p (native 4K) to 1800p on Xbox One X, while only 1440p to 1296p on PlayStation 4 Pro. This gives the Xbox One X version a significant advantage in terms of clarity that we just don't get on Sony's machine. Aside from that — despite not being revolutionary changes — the Xbox One X version features better textures, better texture filtering, and higher-resolution reflections among other changes. The resolution boost and the clarity of the visuals is the most significant upgrade here.

It's great to see developers taking the time to use the Xbox One X's 1.8 teraflops advantage to make games shines. Digital Foundry even said that you should play Star Wars: Battlefront 2 on a 1080p display if you have a PlayStation 4 Pro and a 4K display if you have an Xbox One X. Many individuals were worried that due to marketing agreements DICE might hold back the Xbox One X for parity. That's not the case here because even when the resolution drops down to 1800p on Xbox One X to maintain 60 FPS, it offers a clearer picture than the 1440p PlayStation 4 Pro maximum.

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Asher Madan
Asher Madan

Asher Madan handles gaming news for Windows Central. Before joining Windows Central in 2017, Asher worked for a number of different gaming outlets. He has a background in medical science and is passionate about all forms of entertainment, cooking, and antiquing.

35 Comments
  • It's things like this that really make me wish developers didn't agree deals for "console exclusives" as Uncharted, Zorizon Zero Dawn, The Last of Us and soon; Death Stranding.
    These games are/look amazing in story and gameplay and I feel developers would make much more money selling then for both consoles, as I can't justify buying a "weaker" PS4 Pro just for some games, therefore I miss out.
  • These aren't exlusive deals with 3rd party developers. Uncharted, Horizon Zero Dawn, and The Last of Us are all made by Sony first party developers, and Death Stranding is published by Sony.
  • Yeah, the big issue seems to be that Microsoft has either shut it's decent first party studios down, or treated the devs poorly and they've left. It's a pretty sad state for Xbox exclusives because of it.
  • Their first party studios have done several games. Much more productive then Sony's first party studios for the first three years.   Microsoft shutdown one major studio and consolidated a few others that were doing Cortana work  Not like Sony hasn't done the same  with Evolution makers of DriveClub (actually a month after Microsoft closed Lionhead) and closed two other smaller studios and consolidated a few others.  For the fist couple of years Sony essentially had squat for real first party blcokbusters. All they had were reboots and redos with an occassional niche first party game.  While Xbox had yearly big guns out.  Unfortunately, Xbox has had a fairly dry 2017  for good first party games. Well atleast until  Octorober with two of the highest rated games of this year arriving: Cuphead and Foraz 7.   And exactly who has left? The only company that wanted to leave was Bungie. Why? Because they were tired of doing Halo and wanted to do something new and different.  Well, all the creativity need of doing something new ended up creating the so original Destiny or foundly known as Halo from a different mother.  Or do you mean people leaving is that what you mean? Sure, people  leave all the time. Heck, NuaghtyDog, Sony's biggest first party company has lost multiple creative directors or even the VP Balestra in just the last few years. Does that mean Sony is a horrible company to work for?  Like most companies NaughtyDog is not the same company it was three years ago. Heck even when Bungie left over half the staff stayed on with 343 and those that left with Bungie in 2007 have moved on from that company since. Why did they leave Bungie or stay with 343 if Microsoft is so awful?
  • I just bought a second hand original PS4 and a second hand SWITCH. Use the Xbox One X as my main console. I also don’t think there’s a need for me to get the PS4 pro.
  • Still got my PC and PS4. No need for me to ever get any of these XB1 consoles...
  • I have a gaming pc, ps4 slim, ps4 pro, two xb1 and an xb1x. I have no need to be a broke peasant who can't afford them all. Let me know when you can take my mcdonalds order.
  • +1 Double-spaces minus the McDonald's comment lol.
  • Hmm... I wonder what inadequacies you're attempting to compensate for?
  • @doublespaces If your comment was directed to me then it was a dumb comment. lol Unlike you, I'm not here trying to show off. I can probably buy a lot of XB1x no problem. But I just buy what I need. I don't need a XB1. I have my PCs...  And McDonald's? Seriously? I personally don't eat that cheap crap...
  • Same, I've got a gaming PC a PS4 and a switch... I'll get an Xbox if there's ever a reason to.
  • lol salty
  • I have a base PS4 and an Xbox One X. Great combo.
  • I can agree, BF2 is so far the nicest looking XB1X game I've played. Hope to see more games just a beautiful as this one.
  • How much are they charging us to get the 4k ability?
  • Who is "they"? There are no 4K game upgrades; it just downloads the Scorpio assets if the console is detected, so $0?
  • Isn't minecraft update paid?
  • That's what I thought.
  • It's free.
  • Isn't the Super Duper Graphics Pack for XB1x some paid upgrade? So after going on with your "achieves native 4K resolution" without talking of dynamic resolution, you're trying to mislead your readers once again? I guess for you it's MS/XB over gamers/gaming...
  • All the 4K updates are free, they're automatically downloaded for games that have the update.
  • Ahhh
  • $499 you nub
  • A trillion dollars and an arm.
  • The joke, it flew over most people's head apparently lol
  • PSwhaaaaat? :)
  • Love it! The future is bright with the Xbox one X!
  • Best looking console game so far. Along with Rise Of The Tomb Raider. The detail on One X is a whole different level to all other console games ever made. Truly unbelieveable.
  • I don't think it's THAT unbelievable. It is the MOST expensive console currently on the market. Its price is in a whole different level than some of the consoles in the market. So having few more details and netter resolution is not that "unbelieveable".
  • Honestly when you see it first hand its so much more impressive than you anticipate. I bought a 50" 4KTV with HDR a year ago. Been using the One S on it for about a year. It upscales everything to 4K which is nice, but that's it. Having played ROTR to death and Battlefront 2 on One S before I got the One X it was an easy compare.  What I noticed straight away was how much more detail and crispness there is in all the textures. It is literally like going from textures on the 360 to the one. The difference from One S to One X textures are that big. Shadow detail has taken a significant jump in all the games I've tried also. So much more clarity compared to One S.  i can only describe it best as Battlefront 2 on One S appears so blurry in comparison. Like someone has taken off my glasses. It's not i my impressive that its 4K practically all the time, but that other visuals details have been enhanced so much. Sure DF say if you can afford a GPU like the Titan to do Ultra settings on PC its the ultimate for this game. But even a 1080TI can't do 4K 60fps with ultra settings. Showing just how good One X is running this game. it really is such a beautiful game on One X. And along with ROTR i tried the pinnacle of Console visuals. I'm excited to see what next year brings in terms of One X titles. Sea Of Thieves water is going to look immense now they have confirmed native 4K with high end pc settings implemented. And I'm dying to see what 343 industries can do for Halo 6 with One X. That I think will be a whole step up from Battlefront 2 which already looks photorealistic in alot places. 
  • We all know that you're an hardcore MS/XB "fan". You have often lied about stuff to defend them and I'm yet to see you ever criticise them or their policies... I rather listen opinions of a neutral gamer:
    https://youtu.be/05mm0TdOXMU?t=61 On another note, it's funny you talk about buying a XB1s for the little things it brought compared to the original XB1 and then talk about buying XB1x later. So it's $500 in 2013 + $300-400 in 2016 + $500 in 2017. $60/year to play online. That's $300 if you want play till next year. Add $150/year for renting service like Game pass and EA access that you guys seem to promote a lot. So it's $1300-$1400 in 4 years just for the hardware. Plus $240 to play online. $210 per year for all these subscriptions. Who said gaming with XB1 is cheap... LOL
  • All those extra costs you listed are totally optional, nobody gets all of them since a lot of them overlap. On PS4, you have PSN, PS Now, as well as a bunch of other available subscriptions for music and movies. Likewise no one gets all of them either. And on PC there's plenty of paid subscription services out there for numerous things, spotify, office 365, Skype premium, etc. Again, all optional. $500 is the minimum you need for an Xbox One X, but that's only if you're looking for 4K 60fps gaming. The Xbox One S which costs around $200 now, cheaper than a Switch I might add, can play all the same games as the One X for those that don't need native 4K gaming.
  • Kashyyk at night with HDR is amazing
  • oh good grief, 1440?  i guess that is technically better than 1080.
  • 4k loot boxes based progression yeaaaaaahhhhh!!!!